''The Great O'Malley'' is a 1937 crime film directed by William Dieterle and starring Pat O'Brien, Sybil Jason,

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

, and

Ann Sheridan Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films ''San Quentin'' (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cagne ...

. The 1925 silent version ''

The Making of O'Malley ''The Making of O'Malley'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Eugene Clifford. The film stars Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill, Helen Rowland, Warner Richmond, Thomas Carrigan and Julia Hurley. The fi ...

'' starred Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill and Helen Rowland.

Plot

James O'Malley ( Pat O'Brien) is an overzealous, unforgiving officer who abides by the letter of the law and hands out citations for petty infractions. He pulls over John Phillips (

) for a noisy muffler, delaying him long enough to cause him to be late for arriving at his new job that would help him to take care of his wife ( Frieda Inescort) and crippled daughter, Barbara ( Sybil Jason). After losing the job for being late, Phillips becomes desperate and attempts to pawn his war medals and a revolver. The store owner does not want to pay him what the items are worth, causing Phillips to become enraged, knocking the clerk down, and taking money from the cash register. This leads to Phillips being arrested and sentenced to prison for robbery. Meanwhile, O'Malley is being ridiculed for being too hard on normal working people and gets demoted by Captain Cromwell ( Donald Crisp), being reassigned as a school crossing guard at the same school where Phillips' daughter attends. Barbara and O'Malley strike up a friendship, while he falls in love with her teacher, Judy Nolan (

), whose disdain softens his disciplinarian attitude. After O'Malley finds out that Barbara is the daughter of the man that he sent to jail, he provides for her and her mother, secretly finding the physician to fix Barbara's crippled leg, working out a payment plan to fund it, and helping to get Phillips paroled. Unaware of O'Malley's help, Phillips, seeking revenge, shoots the officer out of desperation, thinking O'Malley is simply hounding him straight after his parole. O'Malley, further humanized by this experience, decides to exonerate Phillips, claiming that the shooting was accidentally brought on by himself, after tripping down the stairs. O'Malley soon recovers, and is reinstated to his old beat, with the respect of his fellow officers and the loving admiration of Judy.

Cast

* Pat O'Brien as James Aloysius O'Malley * Sybil Jason as Barbara "Babs" Phillips *

as John Phillips *

as Judy Nolan * Frieda Inescort as Mrs. Phillips * Donald Crisp as Captain Cromwell *

Henry O'Neill Henry O'Neill (August 10, 1891 – May 18, 1961) was an American film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s. Early years He was born in Orange, New Jersey. Career ...

as Defense Attorney * Craig Reynolds as Motorist * Hobart Cavanaugh as Pinky Holden * Gordon Hart as Doctor * Mary Gordon as Mrs. O'Malley * Mabel Colcord as Mrs. Flaherty * Frank Sheridan as Father Patrick *

Lillian Harmer Lillian Harmer (September 8, 1883 – May 14, 1946) was an American character actress. Biography Born in Philadelphia in 1883, Harmer had a brief film career during the 1930s. During her short career she would appear in over 60 films, mos ...

as Miss Taylor * Delmar Watson as Tubby * Frank Reicher as Dr. Larson * Granville Bates as Jake, Bar Proprietor (uncredited)Clifford McCarty, Bogey- The Films of Humphrey Bogart, 1965, p.40

References

External links

''The Great O'Malley''
in the Internet Movie Database * * * 1937 films 1937 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Films directed by William Dieterle Warner Bros. films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-crime-drama-film-stub